Dough Scares Me

As I was sifting through recipes in my own recipe collections over Thanksgiving, I realized that I had absolutely NO bread/classic pastry recipes. I love pastries and breads but they have always intimidated the hell out of me. Fresh baked bread is an art all unto it's self and I just never thought I had the nack for it. It takes a lot of patience and although I have patience for my 3 kids, I've been known to loose it in the kitchen. I guess I was feeling overly zealous for Thanksgiving and decided that I was going to make dinner rolls. To be perfectly honest I'm not a huge turkey and dressing fan and I'll head straight for the bread bowl and gravy dish at Thanksgiving dinner. So, naturally that would be the thing I would want to make. I read Ree Drummond's blog every day and her Parker House Rolls popped up. They, of course, looked absolutely delicious and I needed to try it. Fresh, double rising, dipped in butter...ahhh...HEAVEN!!! I'm not going to go into too much detail about the actual recipe because Ree does a great job on her blog. I will share some tips I think that are extremely helpful when dealing with breads and pastries. So here you go :)

1. Use exact ingredients! Baking is a science and if you don't follow the recipe, atleast for the first time, you'll end up screwing something up. after you've used the recipe a few times then you can experiement with different ingredients.

2. Before you get any ingredients out make sure and read through your recipe. Read them ALL!

3. Check your expiration dates on your baking soda and powder.

4. Patience pays off. If the directions say leave covered for 30 min...DO IT!

5. Watch your bread! Not all ovens are the same. 8 min. may be 10 min on your oven.

6. Think the recipe makes too much? Share it! Take it to neighbors or friends :)

7. No new recipes at holidays...try it out first! No one likes a "fail" on Thanksgiving or Christmas :)

8. Butter is better. When it comes to rolls use REAL butter.

9. Folded not flat. I took Ree's advice and folded my rolls. It gives them better demension and adds a spot for your butter :)

10. Don't be afraid (like I was) to try and make breads!! They're fun and much tastier than store bought stuff. yum yum...

Here's the link to the dinner rolls that Ree made. They take a long time to make but are definitely worth it. I've already had a couple of people ask for the recipe! As a side note, I think that next time I make them I'll add jalapeno and cheddar as well as maybe a little smokey inside and make kolaches.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/11/parker-house-rolls/

Enjoy friends! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! ~Danielle